Villa d'Este Immersiva
Artistic Residency
Duration: a day
From: Thursday, 06 August 2026
To: Sunday, 09 August 2026
11:00 > 19:002026-08-06T11:00:00.000Z | Classroom 1
To: Sunday, 09 August 2026
11:00 > 19:002026-08-06T11:00:00.000Z | Classroom 1
In the sixteenth-century cloister of Villa d'Este in Tivoli — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — the FLxER collective launches an artistic residency for the creation of large-scale site-specific immersive performances.
Gianluca Cillo and Claudio Sorace work in situ with the architecture of the space: vaults, columns, passageways and surfaces become living support for real-time visual compositions. Four high-power projectors, positioned on all four sides of the cloister, envelop the entire architectural space in a single continuous visual environment — no screen, no stage, no separation between image and spectator. The creative process grows from direct dialogue with the space, its light, its layered memory: an architecture that calls not for scenography, but for listening.
Participants form 4 groups during the opening moments of the residency. The groups work in parallel along two creative lines of equal standing:
2 groups develop free performances: no thematic constraints, no imposed material. Complete freedom over content, visual and sonic language, and dramaturgical approach. The cloister space and the technical infrastructure of the residency are the only shared parameters.
2 groups develop immersive shows inspired by Pinocchio, working with the illustrations of Mathieu Vignon — created for the bicentenary of Collodi's masterpiece — and the music of Fiorenzo Carpi reworked in a jazz idiom by Carlo Gizzi and his ensemble. Carpi wrote those compositions for Luigi Comencini's television Pinocchio, the 1972 RAI miniseries that shaped the collective imagination of entire generations: melodies that millions of people carry within them without knowing it, returned in a jazz form that reopens them, suspends them, makes them capable of surprising us once again.
At the end of the 4 days, all four works are presented in the cloister of Villa d'Este over two public evenings, one of which is dedicated to Collodi.
The residency takes place over 4 days, with 6 hours of work per day for a total of 24 hours of training and practice in situ. The participation fee is € 800. It is possible to participate free of charge by applying for a scholarship: places are limited and selection is competitive. To apply, simply fill in the dedicated form.
Gianluca Cillo and Claudio Sorace work in situ with the architecture of the space: vaults, columns, passageways and surfaces become living support for real-time visual compositions. Four high-power projectors, positioned on all four sides of the cloister, envelop the entire architectural space in a single continuous visual environment — no screen, no stage, no separation between image and spectator. The creative process grows from direct dialogue with the space, its light, its layered memory: an architecture that calls not for scenography, but for listening.
Participants form 4 groups during the opening moments of the residency. The groups work in parallel along two creative lines of equal standing:
2 groups develop free performances: no thematic constraints, no imposed material. Complete freedom over content, visual and sonic language, and dramaturgical approach. The cloister space and the technical infrastructure of the residency are the only shared parameters.
2 groups develop immersive shows inspired by Pinocchio, working with the illustrations of Mathieu Vignon — created for the bicentenary of Collodi's masterpiece — and the music of Fiorenzo Carpi reworked in a jazz idiom by Carlo Gizzi and his ensemble. Carpi wrote those compositions for Luigi Comencini's television Pinocchio, the 1972 RAI miniseries that shaped the collective imagination of entire generations: melodies that millions of people carry within them without knowing it, returned in a jazz form that reopens them, suspends them, makes them capable of surprising us once again.
At the end of the 4 days, all four works are presented in the cloister of Villa d'Este over two public evenings, one of which is dedicated to Collodi.
The residency takes place over 4 days, with 6 hours of work per day for a total of 24 hours of training and practice in situ. The participation fee is € 800. It is possible to participate free of charge by applying for a scholarship: places are limited and selection is competitive. To apply, simply fill in the dedicated form.
Author
FLxER
Italy Roma, Rome, Bologna, Bergamo, Hungary Budapest
Italy, RomaHungary, BudapestItaly, RomeItaly, BolognaItaly, BergamoFLxER Team was born in 2001 around the developing of FLxER software born from the idea of using a computer in order to realise a live video performance, similarly to what was already happening in the electronic music production/performance.
Since none of the expensive consumer video software available in the market did allow to perform in real time, the solution was to independently design and develop an application able to solve this problem.
Since 2001 many FLxER visual and audio visual shows,...
Carlo Gizzi is a guitarist and composer from Tivoli. He has performed in numerous concerts and recordings, exploring a wide range of styles from classical sounds to folk music. As a teacher and author of music methods and educational tools, he has always been committed to the research and development of alternative educational projects. He graduated in Guitar from the “Alfredo Casella” Conservatory in L’Aquila, after completing classical studies.
He has conducted training courses, led choirs and orchestras, and collaborated with...
Gianluca Cillo is a visual artist and VJ with over ten years of experience in audiovisual arts and live performance.
He began his career producing and projecting visuals for the electronic band She's a Man, while simultaneously entering the club circuit as a VJ for internationally renowned techno artists such as Joseph Capriati and Oscar Mulero, working alongside crews from Avellino and Rome.
In 2011 he founded Kanaka Project, a collective of visual and sound artists selected for some of the most...